This map of Arabia, published in London in 1794, is an English translation of a map by the French cartographer and geographer Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d’Anville (1697−1782). Appointed the first geographer to the king of France in 1773, d’Anville was one of the most important mapmakers of the 18th century, known for the accuracy and scientific quality of his maps. The work presented here is said to contain “Additions and Improvements from Mr. Niebuhr,” a reference to Carsten Niebuhr (1733–1815), a German-born Danish explorer and civil engineer ...

“Arabia According to Its Modern Divisions” shows the Arabian Peninsula with the three-part division traditionally used in European sources into Arabia Petraea, Arabia Deserta, and Arabia Felix. Deserts, seaports, and the pearl beds along the coast are indicated. Qatar is shown as Catura. Four different distance scales—Arabian miles, Turkish miles, Persian parasangs, and British miles—are provided. Published in 1794, the map was compiled and drawn by Samuel Dunn (circa 1723−94), a teacher of mathematics and navigation who made original contributions to solving the problem of determining longitude ...

This map of Mexico City was made to support an early effort at urban improvement carried out by Viceroy Juan Vicente Güemes Pacheco de Padilla Revillagigedo (1740-99), who served as the 52nd viceroy of New Spain in the period from 1789 to 1794. During his tenure, this enlightened official undertook a massive overhaul of the social, financial, and administrative organization of New Spain. He ordered the first census, reorganized the militia, strengthened frontier garrisons, and promoted further exploration of the Pacific coast. This map reflects the viceroy's interest in ...

This clear and beautifully executed late 18th century Spanish map of the vicinity of Oran in the extreme north of Argentina was intended to promote settlement in this region. The map was prepared at the behest of Ramón Garcia de Leon y Pizarro, Governor and Captain General of the Province of Salta, who founded Oran in August 1794, possibly as an outpost to strengthen Spanish territorial claims along the then Spanish-Portuguese frontier. The map shows the planned and partially settled community of Oran, other settlements, a sugar plantation, individual land ...

The English poet, illustrator, and engraver William Blake (1757–1827) first published Europe, A Prophecy in 1794, one year after the appearance of his America, A Prophecy. In both books, Blake attempted to discern the pattern behind human history, and in particular in the momentous events occurring on both sides of Atlantic between the end of the American Revolution in 1783 and the outbreak of war between France and Great Britain in 1793. At first an enthusiast for the French Revolution, Blake saw a world of deprivation and misery emerging ...

Robert Burns (1759-96) is best known for his poems and songs that reflect Scotland's cultural heritage. He was born in Alloway, Ayrshire, Scotland, the first of seven children belonging to William Burnes, a tenant farmer, and his wife Agnes Broun. Burns had little formal education, but he read English literature and absorbed the traditional, largely oral Scots-language folk songs and tales of his rural environment. He began to compose songs in 1774, and published his first book, Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, in 1786. The work was a ...

This design for a monument to popular sovereignty was produced by the French artist and designer Jean Jacques Lequeu (1757–1826) at the time of the French Revolution. After gaining a solid education as an architect and making a promising start to his career, Lequeu failed to channel his architectural and philosophical ideas into concrete projects that would ensure him fame. Lequeu was a man of his times in his faith in science and his religious eclecticism, but he was also a troubled visionary, known to be unorthodox and eccentric ...

This map of the Caribbean island of Grenada was prepared in 1793 by cartographers aboard the Spanish naval ships Descubridor and Vigilante. The map indicates the coastline, coastal features, soundings, navigational hazards, settlements, and characteristics of the water bottom. The map is part of the Library of Congress’s collection from the Real Escuela de Navegación, Cadiz, Spain, acquired from Maggs Brothers, London. Several times during the 18th century, Grenada was the scene of fighting between the European naval powers. In 1762, during the Seven Years' War, the British captured ...

The term ukiyo-e, literally “pictures of the floating world,” refers to a genre of Japanese artwork that flourished in the Edo period (1600–1868). As the phrase “floating world” suggests, with its roots in the ephemeral worldview of Buddhism, ukiyo-e captured the fleeting dynamics of contemporary urban life. While being accessible and catering to “common” tastes, the artistic and technical details of these prints show remarkable sophistication, their subjects ranging from portraits of courtesans and actors to classical literature. In this yakusha-e (pictures of actors) by Tōshusai Sharaku, a famous ...

The term ukiyo-e, literally “pictures of the floating world,” refers to a genre of Japanese artwork that flourished in the Edo period (1600–1868). As the phrase “floating world” suggests, with its roots in the ephemeral worldview of Buddhism, ukiyo-e captured the fleeting dynamics of contemporary urban life. While being accessible and catering to “common” tastes, the artistic and technical details of these prints show remarkable sophistication, their subjects ranging from portraits of courtesans and actors to classical literature. Bijin-ga (pictures of beautiful women) capture the trends in feminine beauty ...

In 1793, Captain James Colnett of the Royal Navy in the merchant ship Rattler undertook a survey of the Galapagos Islands. Colnett was on an extended voyage to the Pacific that he chronicled in a book published in 1798 under the lengthy title A voyage to the south Atlantic and round cape Horn into the Pacific Ocean, for the purpose of extending the spermaceti whale fisheries, and other objects of commerce, by ascertaining the ports, bays, harbours, and anchoring births in certain islands and coasts in those seas at which ...

This 1794 map by Solomon Boulton (Bolton) was adapted from one originally published in 1749 by Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d’Anville (1697–1782), the French geographer and cartographer. D’Anville reformed European cartography by rejecting plagiarism and unconfirmed cartography. D’Anville’s maps often had blank spaces in places where earlier maps had been filled with figments of the imagination and features based on hearsay evidence. This map shows gold, silver, and gemstone mines, the hot springs near the settlement of Caledon, and the towns of Stellenbosch and Drakenstein. Also ...